


Kismet

by honestgrins



Series: To Rely on the Kindness of Strangers [8]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 16:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5709973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: klaroline not in a relationship but klaus has been crushing on caroline. she shows up with his friend marcel as a date to a party or to a family member/mutual friend's wedding. klaus gets jealous. all human please.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kismet

Bored of the club around him, Klaus ordered yet another drink to keep him company. Kol had dragged him out that night, then promptly ditched him for a pretty girl he met at the bar. He had been sitting in a dark corner booth, silently loathing the raucous clubbers enjoying their night as he hadn’t been allowed.

“Brother, there you are!”

Klaus sighed. At least when Kol left him, he could have some peace. Instead, his bubble was utterly popped by the return of his brother and the young lady in Kol’s sights. She was a pretty little thing, smile gleaming under the neon lights.

“Bonnie, lass,” Kol introduced. “This is my brother, Niklaus. He’s a crabby arse that didn’t want to come tonight. Nik, tell her that I didn’t abandon you. She doesn’t believe that you were happier here without me.”

“I was,” he answered heavily, gulping at his drink. Nodding to the girl, though, he minded his manners. “Nice to meet you, Bonnie. Call me Klaus.”

“Hi,” she said, waving uncomfortably as she slid into the seat across from him. “Kol asked me and my friend to join you, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Klaus said, only slightly grinding his teeth before he noticed a fetching blonde striding toward their table with a tray of shots. Her blonde curls bounced freely around her shoulders as her little blue dress floated around long legs.

As though answering his silent prayers for a chance to talk to her, the mystery girl walked straight to their table. “I’ve got the first two rounds,” she cheered, setting down the tray. Looking up, she beamed at Bonnie before turning to him. “I’m Caroline,” she greeted, waving.

“Klaus,” he answered, tipping his head. “What are we drinking?”

“Tequila,” Caroline crowed, taking the remaining seat next to Klaus. “Bonnie and I are celebrating, and Kol has infiltrated our girls’ night. It seems only polite to include you as well.”

Reaching for a shot glass, Klaus carefully watched the blonde lick and salt her hand. “And what are we celebrating, love?”

Caroline looked up at him, smirking at his focused stare on her salted hand. Before she could say anything, though, Bonnie spoke up.

“Caroline just landed a huge account for her company,” she cheered, raising her own glass. “She’s going to be the official party planner for the city!”

Chuckling, Caroline’s eyes darted down humbly. “Not exactly,” she amended. “The mayor’s campaign has a bunch of official events for the upcoming election. I managed to contract him through the year.”

“Well done,” Kol toasted, though he definitely did it for Bonnie’s attention than out of esteem for Caroline. That hardly mattered as they all downed their shots in quick succession. “You know,” Kol pointed out, “Nik has to go to a lot of events like that.”

“Oh, really,” Caroline asked. “Because you’re some fat cat financing all the political maneuvers happening in New Orleans?”

Huffing out a laugh, Klaus sucked on his lime a bit longer. “Something like that,” he admitted, reaching out a hand. “Niklaus Mikaelson.”

Startled, Caroline dropped her lime and accepted his handshake. “Wolf Industries, Niklaus Mikaelson?”

“The one and the same,” he answered smugly, keeping a hold of her hand. He didn’t often bandy about his successful business and the immense wealth that came with it, but he wanted to pull out all the stops for this gorgeous blonde as bright as the sun.

Instead, she scoffed. “I actually applied there, right out of school,” Caroline said. “I had the best interview of my life, until your chief of marketing waltzed in to insult my outfit.”

Klaus winced, but Kol laughed. “That would be our dear sister,” he explained. “Bekah’s not the nicest to pretty girls who tread on her territory.”

Cocking his head, Klaus sipped from his scotch again. “She wouldn’t have based her hiring decisions on pettiness, though,” he insisted.

“They still offered me the job,” Caroline snorted, well aware of what she brought to the workforce. “I turned them down for my current position.”

“Our loss,” Klaus said with a small smile. 

And it truly was, he found himself thinking as the night progressed. Caroline was quick, witty, and wonderfully easy to talk to. She proved to be a necessary companion as Kol and Bonnie’s flirtation took advantage of the dark corner and turned into canoodling.

At closing time, Klaus hailed a cab for the women as Caroline tried to convince Bonnie it was time to go home. Kol was a bit more persuasive, though, and Caroline huffed in annoyance.

“So much for a girls’ night,” she groaned, turning to Klaus.

“I hope it wasn’t all bad, love,” he answered, stepping just that foot closer. “I certainly enjoyed meeting you.”

Opening her mouth, Caroline then closed it sheepishly. “I enjoyed meeting you, too,” she said carefully. “But in the spirit of full disclosure, I just started dating someone.”

He would never admit it, but Klaus felt crushed. Trying to hide his disappointment, he fell into rakishness. “I’d be surprised if you weren’t spoken for, you’re lovely.”

“Thanks,” she said, blushing. “For what it’s worth, you’re pretty lovely yourself. Even if your sister hates my taste in professional attire.”

Klaus barked out a laugh as Kol and Bonnie finally surfaced from their goodbyes. “Friends, then,” he asked, expression smoldering just a bit. He couldn’t help himself.

“If that’s anything to go by,” she said, nodding to where Kol was helping Bonnie into the cab, “then, I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other.” With a smile and a wink, she gently shoved Kol away from Bonnie so she could slide into the car herself.

As the cab pulled away, a still tipsy Kol mumbled, “What a woman.”

Klaus found himself thinking the same thing.

* * *

Sure enough, Bonnie and Kol’s budding relationship provided ample opportunities for Klaus to spend time with Caroline. She loved talking about her work, her family, and her friends.

“You never talk about your boyfriend,” he mentioned over a plate of cheese fries. He hadn’t wanted to join Kol for bowling with Bonnie’s work friends, but Caroline’s presence made it a must-attend event. She had quickly cajoled him into ordering beers and greasy food to share between frames. “Why isn’t he here tonight?”

“He had to work,” she answered, shrugging. “And he’s not really my boyfriend. We’ve agreed to keep things casual since work is really busy.”

Nodding, Klaus tried to seem unaffected. “I never pegged you for a casual relationship kind of girl,” he admitted, thinking back to everything he had learned about her.

“Well, it’s casual in the sense that we don’t have to spend every minute of every day together and it’s just dating,” she explained. “I’m definitely a one-man woman, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I wouldn’t dare, love,” he said with a smirk, despite the slight ache he felt at being rejected as a romantic option. 

After that conversation, he didn’t like to ask about the guy she was seeing. The last thing he needed was to meet the guy and  _not_  be able to hate him. As long as Caroline was happy, he needed to find a way to be okay with just being her friend.

Even if he was halfway to falling in love with her.

* * *

“I didn’t think you and Bonnie were serious enough to bring her to Elijah’s wedding,” Klaus commented, actually impressed by his younger brother.

Kol shrugged, his smile small but genuine as he watched Bonnie order drinks at the bar. “I needed the company if I’m supposed to be on my best behavior,” he said. “Katherine threatened to disembowel me if I ruined this night for her.”

“How could she tell,” Klaus asked, looking around the ballroom. “They must have invited half the city.” It wasn’t that surprising given Elijah’s position at Wolf Industries and Katherine’s socialite self, but still, there were a lot of guests. “I would have asked Caroline to come along if I knew you were bringing Bonnie.”

Narrowing his eyes, Kol looked at his brother strangely. “Caroline’s here, Nik,” he said.

“What do you mean,” Klaus asked before spying a friend across the room. “Hold on, I should chat with Marcel about the mayor’s campaign. He’s been pestering me for donations.”

“Nik-”

Klaus walked away, ignoring Kol’s calls. “Marcel,” he greeted with a smile. “It’s been too long.”

“Niklaus Mikaelson,” Marcel said, reaching for his proffered hand. “You’ve been skipping my parties. You trying to skip out on my candidate?”

“Not at all,” Klaus assured him. “Just a trick of scheduling. I actually know your party planner, so I feel doubly bad for missing them.”

Marcel was about to answer when a familiar face appeared, smiling brightly. “I know you prefer bourbon,” Caroline said, looking to Marcel, “but it’s a wedding. Gin and tonics are the- Klaus?”

“You’re not really surprised to see me at my brother’s wedding, are you love?”

Honestly, he was surprised he could be so quick on the draw. Klaus hadn’t wanted to know who Caroline dated, only to find out it was a friend of his.

“No,” Caroline denied, smiling shyly. “I just didn’t get a chance to say hi earlier.”

“You know my party planner,” Marcel asked with a wide grin. “Caroline, you never mentioned.”

She shook her head, as though silently begging him not to say anything. Klaus couldn’t think of a worst place to, not wanting to see Caroline with another man. “I should get back to my family,” he said, already stepping away.

“Wait,” Caroline said, quickly handing Marcel his drink with a meaningful look. Surprised, the man just shrugged, smiling understandingly. “Can we talk?”

Looking around, Klaus felt helpless in the crowded room. “Sweetheart,” he said.

“Please?”

Reluctantly, he followed her out to the quieter lobby. “Caroline, really, Marcel is a good guy, I don’t-”

Before he could finish, she whirled around and planted her lips on his. It took him a moment to respond, but she pulled away before he could really participate.

“Marcel and I broke it off last week,” she explained, reaching for his hands. “We’re much better as friends, and I realized I liked someone a lot more. Like,  _a lot_  more. I had hoped to see you before tonight, but I had already agreed to be Marcel’s date. I wanted to have this conversation at a better time, and I didn’t know that you and Marcel were actually friends, and-”

Smiling, Klaus leaned in to cut her off with a kiss instead. His arms crept up around her waist, pulling her closer. “As much as I enjoy your rambling, I’m just happy to finally have this chance,” he whispered, noting her flushed cheeks. “Do you want to go back to your date?”

She slowly shook her head, a mischievous glint in her eye. “I told him about you,” she admitted. “He didn’t know it was  _you_ , but he told me I was being an idiot for turning you down.”

“Are you turning me down now?”

Rolling her eyes, Caroline grabbed his hand again and nearly dragged him to the coat check.

This had been a long time coming.


End file.
